Are you organized?

[Koodari]

Since I got a Mac about two months ago, I have felt more organized than ever. It feels good, and I hope the energy lasts enough that I can entrench the change as a lasting habit. Before, all I used for organizing stuff was an A3 size paper taped to the wall, that I replaced when it got full. I also had a paper calendar which I rarely even looked at. In the past I have tried a Palm (which was pretty nice until it got stolen; I got new respect for paper calendar as well), keeping a to-do list in a text editor, and different kinds of paper scrap reminders.

I use iCal, and have five calendars so far - study, fitness, sword, important dates (think birthdays) and miscellaneous.

I use OmniOutliner to keep a hierarchical to-do list. I made a custom column that accepts numbes 1-5 as priority values. I can then easily readjust the priorities and re-sort the list.

I have also gotten the habit of always carrying a small (A7?) size paper pad in my back pocket. It keeps all my notes and ideas till I get to the computer, it keeps my grocery list, my workout list. Other people have noticed my new habit in a very positive way. Apparently it's rare that anyone writes down phone numbers and such on paper anymore. The key for me is that the pad is so small it can always be in the back pocket, in town, at the gym, wherever. I have had notebooks before, but they were all big enough that I left them at home, and therefore proved useless.

I'm cleaning up my contact info in Address Book (imported from cell phone via BT). Address Book seems just a bit awkward. It's nice that it is accessible systemwide, but I ended up picking Thunderbird for my mail/news app, and Thunderbird doesn't (at least yet) support Address Book. Could use Mail, I guess, but then newsgroups would be in a separate app - pretty inconvenient.

I'm reading "Getting things done" by David Allen. So far it has provided some inspiration. After I've read it through I'll see if I want to implement his system or a part of it.

[_Ω_]

I tend to spend all my time getting organised, that I have no time to do the tasks I need to do! ;)

I am a compulsive To Do list writer. Though I either keep it in my head, or on the whiteboard in my office. All my files are neatly organised, and archived when they reach the end of there useful life.

:)

[psmith2.0]

I'm VERY organized, perhaps to a fault. I do tend, however, to sometimes let things get a tad sloppy and thrown around, but then I'll sit down and spend an hour putting files in the proper folders, renaming things so they make sense, cleaning house, consolidating stuff, thinking of new arrangements for files and projects, etc.

I'm that way on the Mac and it extends to my desk and surroundings. I hate clutter and stuff strewn randomly about. Drives me NUTS.

I'm sure I have a touch of OCD, but not so much that I wash my hands all day long, check the lightswitch 400 times or anything like that.

:D

I just like stuff neat and easy to find and orderly. When I see someone with their desktop covered in folders and files and icons upon icons and shit all over their hard drive, I absolutely cringe and have to make myself walk away to resist the urge to clean it all up.

:p

[hmurchison]

No I'm not organized and I'm still waiting for that perfect app to help me. Dammit Apple I need a smartphone and you won't give it to me!!! You're destroying my life! LOL

[Moogs]

My Mac itself is very organized in the sense that I have a pretty well-formed folder structure, etc. My desk however, is lucky if it doesn't have stuff sprawled all over the place even 30% of the time. It's odd though because I'm generally a neat person in how I keep my clothes organized, my books and bills, etc. But my desk just seems to be a vortex of doom when it comes to being organized.

However, whenever I go to work and look at my boss' desk and his assistant's area, I am reminded of how bad it can really get.

:)

[torifile]

My computer is the only thing that's organized in my life most of the time. I've tried, somewhat successfully, to get a little more organized. I don't try to get crazy organized because, while it would be nice, it would be too much trouble. I figure if I can keep my todo's up to date and my appointments in my Palm, I'm doing well. I'm lucky because I've got a great memory so I don't forget too much. Yet.

[InactionMan]

Everything on my Mac is in perfect order. I purge my home folder of useless PDFs and crap I've downloaded way too often. Address Book and iCal are kept up to date. Almost all my pics in iPhoto are labeled and rated. Everything in iTunes is perfectly tagged. Everything else in my life is a complete mess.

[Mac+]

I'm very organised on the Mac. In fact I think that is what I spend half the time on this computer doing - reorganising or categorising stuff so that it fits a neat mental model I have. About once a month I may restucture my folders, etc b/c I have created more of a certain type of item, or I have a new project to fit into the mix - but generally speaking I'm pretty much on top of it.

I never leave items on my desktop either - I like to look at a clean computer screen... in fact, once I found out about Meteo, Menu Meters and MenuCalendar, I ditched Konfabulator.

All my songs in iTunes are correctly tagged - as are my photos in iPhoto. I just wish like you, Koodari, that Mail read newsgroups. I had started a thread about this type of organisation with regard to Address Book, Mail and iCal vs Entourage over here (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=543) - but no bites. :(

As for my desk at home - well that's usually OK, but come tax time, or when a big assignment is due - there are books and papers covering half of it and various chairs in the study as well. At some stage I just crack and then go on a cleaning rampage. Unfortunately, the neatness in the study lasts for only a few weeks if that. :o

[Ryan]

I'm pretty unorganized. I let stuff get thrown into places where it never gets found again. With binders, I just throw it into one big pile in the front, and never put into respective folders. I've lost tons of papers, but whenever I try to got organized, its back the way it was in week.

[onlyafterdark]

I wasnt that organized before I got my mac. After that everything changed as I could keep all of my personal information at my fingertips in various programs and not have to worry that some nasty worm would come and take a look at everything. Plus, its just so easy to keep things organized on a mac. I dont know what I would do without it. :)

[_Ω_]

I only wish it would let me organise my applications folder :grumble:

[Chinney]

Like more than a few people around here, the only aspect of my life that is well organized is my computers (except for my iPhotos, which still need a bit of work). I am trying, with some small success, to organize other areas of my life using my Mac and my work PC – for example, I could never keep a proper agenda or a proper address book until I put it on the computer, and now these work pretty well for me.

All physical organization outside of the computer, however, is pretty hit and miss for me. My desks at work and home are piled with paper. I do not consistently use proper paper filing system at either place. Thank goodness, however, for the computer, because now almost all of my documents and messages are kept electronically, in very good order.

My wife is the opposite: she is a neat freak in all aspects of her physical life, but can’t be bothered at all to keep the home Mac organized. I am always cleaning up after her on the computer. Revenge, I suppose, for her having to clean up for me in most other areas.

[Koodari]

I never leave items on my desktop either - I like to look at a clean computer screen... in fact, once I found out about Meteo, Menu Meters and MenuCalendar, I ditched Konfabulator.

All my songs in iTunes are correctly tagged - as are my photos in iPhoto. I just wish like you, Koodari, that Mail read newsgroups.I, too, tried Konfabulator but it did nothing for me. This widget business seems pretty much the same as Active Desktop on Windows - the point is to add dynamic information to your desktop background. The problem is, desktop should be neutral enough and static enough to work on. I predict widgets (or whatever they will be called in Tiger) will not become useful anytime soon, but some people will make very cool-looking background/widget combinations.

I haven't really adjusted to iPhoto's album system. The way I currently keep things is that everything I shoot or someone I know has shot goes into iPhoto library, and files coming from elsewhere I put in the Pictures folder. I wonder if there is a good way to put "other" pictures, like desktop background collections, into iPhoto yet keep everything in good order? How do you organize your pictures?

On a side note, iPhoto doesn't seem the best choice to view pictures, since it doesn't have a full-screen viewing mode with manual control, and you can't even hide the useless bottom panel that takes a lot of viewing space. Wonder what I should use for photo browsing/viewing instead?

[alcimedes]

so quick question. what exactly are you doing that requires a seperate "sword" calander?

[Koodari]

so quick question. what exactly are you doing that requires a seperate "sword" calander?That would be a hobby of mine. I practice a Japanese fighting system (http://www.kashima-shinryu.jp/English/index.html) from the 1600's. Most of my training so far is with the sword. The training does not have much in common with exercise for fitness, hence it does not go to that calendar.

[Ryan]

I haven't really adjusted to iPhoto's album system. The way I currently keep things is that everything I shoot or someone I know has shot goes into iPhoto library, and files coming from elsewhere I put in the Pictures folder. I wonder if there is a good way to put "other" pictures, like desktop background collections, into iPhoto yet keep everything in good order? How do you organize your pictures?


I would love to see Apple support mulitple libraries. I've tried other apps, but it just doesn't seem to work very well. I'd like something like what VPC has. A "Library" menu, where you can switch between libraries on the fly. That way I could keep my photos from my digital camera(good photos) seperate from the photos that I get submitted to me from band reviews, which are mostly crappy shots from a camera phone.

Somehow I got delegated to sort the total crap from the somewhat crap. :\

[onlyafterdark]

Ya that multiple libraries idea would be great. Too bad it doesnt look like Apple will do it. I think they are leaning towards the smart albums idea in tiger to keep everything simple. But hey you never know.